N.C. Senate Bond Binge
Faced with an $800-million shortfall in its operating budget and a state unemployment rate that tops 10 percent, the N.C. Senate on Monday night voted 46-0 to approve $542 million in construction bonds for a variety of projects scattered throughout the UNC system.
Some of the big-ticket items up for grabs: a $45-million football complex and $28-million parking deck for UNC-Charlotte; $55 million worth of improvements to UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan Stadium; $120 million for expansion of N.C. State’s Talley Student Union and $25 million to spruce up its Greek Village townhomes; $20 million for expansion and renovation of Appalachian State University’s Plemmons Student Union and $48 million for renovations of the Aggie Stadium press box; $25 million to renovate UNC-Asheville’s Governor’s Village; and $52 million for residence hall renovations at UNC-Greensboro.
Proponents of the so-called revenue bonds argue that all the projects are self-financing, paid for through a variety of student fees, gifts, grants, and receipts from athletic events, parking, and housing. None of the money to repay the bonds will be taken from funds received for tuition or money appropriated from the state’s general fund operating budget.
“I think, in this case, it’s appropriate because they are paying for themselves, essentially, and not a drain on general fund revenues,” said Sen. Bob Rucho, a Mecklenburg Republican who missed the bond vote but said he likely would have supported the measure.
Not so much for another bond bonanza that the N.C. Senate passed earlier this month, which would carve out $451-million in non-voter-approved debt to be repaid over 20 years with revenue from the general fund. The bonds, which are expected to encounter stiff resistance in the N.C. House, would be used to build a new engineering building on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus ($161.5 million) and to replace the McNair Building ($104.4 million) on AT&T State’s campus in Greensboro. An additional $130 million would be tapped for repairs and renovations for several state and university buildings and $55 million would be used for equipment replacement and upgrades for community colleges and the UNC system.
“It’s absolutely irresponsible spending,” Rucho said. “In some of these things, we’re going to be paying debt for 20 years to replace equipment that has a life expectancy of maybe five.”
Rucho also said the bonds only cover capital costs and don’t include funding sources to operate the new facilities that would be built.
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